


The Inquisition Needs Ambient Sound

by caitirin



Series: The Chronicles of Teithranen Lavellan: Plant-Obsessed Soft-Hearted Inquisitor [5]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cute, Dalish elves sleep in trees, Dorian has feelings, Fluff, Insomnia, Library, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Reading, Reading Aloud, Sweet, arm chair snuggles, cuteness, it's too quiet in Skyhold, middle of the night, soft hearted inquisitors, teithranen lavellan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 02:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14275068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitirin/pseuds/caitirin
Summary: Lavellan can't sleep in his giant fancy new quarters in Skyhold and he's so freaking tired.  What's the Inquisitor to do?---“Can we please talk about absolutely anything other than me and the terrifying situation we’re in?” Tei leaned against a bookshelf.“Pity, you’re such a lovely subject.” Dorian held Tei’s gaze with a soft but cheeky look.





	The Inquisition Needs Ambient Sound

**Author's Note:**

> My inquisitor's name is Teithranen Lavellan (Tei)

The Inquisition Needs Ambient Sound

It was the middle of the night in Skyhold and Tei couldn’t sleep. Again. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since Haven. Part of it was the fact that everytime he closed his eyes he could see Haven burning, but that wasn’t all of it. It’s Skyhold. It’s his brand new quarters. 

A Dalish elf can’t possibly rest easily that high in the sky, inside a cold stone tower. It was just so quiet up there. Back with Clan Lavellan there was never silence; even in the middle of the night you could hear comforting sounds. A baby crying, people whispering, scouts watching the edges of the encampment, people enjoying company, the sound of the Halla braying in their enclosures, wild animals, even just the sound of rain or wind through the trees. All of these noises combined into a soothing familiar hum that used to lull him into sleep. Skyhold had none of these sounds. Perhaps if he were living down amidst the clatter and chatter of the people who kept pouring into Skyhold then there might be enough noise to sleep. There was nothing up here but the whistling of the wind, buffeting against the tower. It was too cold to leave the giant windows open at night. 

At first, Tei just sat up in his quarters, trying to think of something other than the oppressive silence, wishing for sleep and not finding it. After a few weeks he’d taken to wandering the halls. For a couple of days he’d found some rest sleeping in the haylofts above the stables until Josephine found out and gently suggested that the Inquisitor couldn’t be found to be sleeping in a barn. It wouldn’t look respectable enough. She suggested sleeping draughts, but Tei turned them down. 

Maybe passing time with Dorian would help. Tei hunted around in the dark for a tunic he could throw on over the light breeches he’d worn to bed. It was still a little bit too cold. He pulled the lavish quilt from his bed and wrapped it around his shoulders. It trailed behind him like some kind of absurd train but Tei was beyond caring. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since coming to Skyhold. Sleep only seemed to find him out on missions. Tei knew he was in the minority with that. No one else seemed to sleep very well in the tents.

The stone floor was cold under his bare feet and he made a quiet sound of annoyance. It was a constant debate he had with himself here: wear the too-heavy boots and have warm feet or go without and lose feeling in his toes. Lightweight, silent feet won most of the time. The boots stayed where they were in the corner. 

He made his way carefully down the many stairs that led from his silent quarters. The Great Hall was quiet other than the crackling of the banked fires that burned continually. Tei crept across it as silently as he could, feeling a little bit like a teenager again, sneaking out at night. At least at this hour there was probably less of a chance at someone stopping him to drag him into a meeting or into a serious political discussion. And they were always serious. 

He eased open the door to the staircase leading up to the library level. It creaked loudly and he hunched his shoulders, looking around to see if there was anyone even around who might have heard him. The Hall was still empty. He went through the door and left it open door wouldn’t creak again. 

The stairs at least didn’t make a sound on the way up. When he passed through the doorway at the top of the stairs, it was dark on the library level, except for an ever-so-faint glow coming from that particular alcove that Dorian seemed to all but live in. Tei gathered the quilt around himself more snugly and padded over.

Just as he’d hoped, Dorian was still sitting up reading. He glanced up with a vaguely annoyed expression that melted into something warmer when he saw who it was. “Out for a midnight stroll, Inquisitor?”

“It was either that or lay in bed staring at the ceiling until I die,” Tei said wearily.

“Don’t tell me the Mighty Inquisitor has been bested by insomnia. Next thing you’ll be telling me you weren’t chosen by Andraste,” Dorian teased. 

“Can we please talk about absolutely anything other than me and the terrifying situation we’re in?” Tei leaned against a bookshelf.

“Pity, you’re such a lovely subject.” Dorian held Tei’s gaze with a soft but cheeky look.

Tei felt his face warming as color bloomed on his cheeks. It had only been a week or so since that very memorable kiss right in this very alcove. 

Dorian seemed quite pleased at the reaction he was getting. “What would you like to discuss, instead?” 

“I haven’t slept in days and I feel like I have the brains of an old potato,” Tei said. “I can’t even think of something intelligent.”

Dorian laid his book aside and got up. “Here, take the chair.”

Tei frowned. “I don’t want to take your chair.” 

“Well, I can think of only one solution then.” He swept Tei up into his arms and then settled them both into the chair.

“I’ll squish you,” Tei protested.

“Hardly! You weigh less than that giant blanket you’re dragging about. I think I can handle it.” Dorian tucked the quilt around them both. “Plus, this castle is hideously drafty so you’ll keep me from freezing to death in this barbaric backwater keep.”

Tei lay his head against Dorian’s chest. “I think you’re insulting me somehow but I’m too tired to think of something intelligent to say.” He rubbed his eyes. He paused. He could hear Dorian’s heartbeat and feel warmth radiating off him. If he hadn’t been so tired he might have been more worried about whether this was too strange: did you really curl up in a new lover’s lap like this so quickly? 

“Can’t stop thinking about things? Ceaseless mind chatter?”

“Well, that too. But mostly it’s the silence. I’m not used to the quiet. Back home there is never silence. It’s starting to feel like I’ve got a weight pressing on my chest.” Tei rubbed his fingertips over his chest absently.

“Well, if it’s just idiotic chatter you’re after, I probably can’t help. I’m far too brilliant.” Dorian grinned. “But...” He reached for his book. “If you’re interested in reductive magical theory of energy barrage as discussed by the Venerable—and that is a highly questionable title in my considerably educated opinion—Plotinus Anaxes, I can certainly oblige.”

“I sometimes think you humans make up half those words just to make me feel stupid,” Tei complained. “But go ahead, I’m desperate.”

Dorian found his place in the book and held it up with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Tei. He cleared his throat and started reading. “When considering the inner workings of the simplest of energetic spells it behooves the careful magical scholar to thoroughly consider these three precepts as told to me by the Elevated Minister Androny Terpischorus...” Dorian glanced down at Tei, but could only see the top of his head. He didn’t seem to be twitching so Dorian continued reading. He wasn’t terribly accustomed to reading aloud, but, conceited as it was, he really did enjoy the sound of his own voice. Perhaps it would serve.

After about a half hour Dorian looked down again. Tei’s head had pitched forward ever so slightly and his breathing was deep and even. Dorian moved just a little bit, easily shifting Tei’s slight weight. He smiled. The elf was asleep with one hand tucked underneath his chin and the other hugged loosely across his chest. Perhaps he ought to carry him to bed... but if the movement woke him up then he might not fall asleep again. There was really nothing for it. Dorian brushed a stray lock of hair out of Tei’s face and then picked the book back up and continued reading.

He didn’t even realize that he’d fallen asleep until he was rudely awakened by an absurdly bright ray of sunlight that had crept up across his face. It was just barely dawn. Dorian squinted against the light and then made a low sound of discomfort as his back twinged a little. It was balance by a warm feeling of pleasure in his chest when he found Tei still sleeping in his arms. Pleasant as this waking was, sleeping all night in an armchair hadn't done his back any favors, though it might work just fine for Tei, who had once told him that Dalish hunters sometimes slept in trees. That story still seemed a little far-fetched so he wasn’t sure Tei hadn’t been having a bit of fun with him. 

Dorian knew that he should probably get the Inquisitor back up to his own quarters before people started waking up. This sight would be fuel for so much irritating chatter that the Inquisitor really didn’t need. But... Tei was so warm, and this damn castle really was always so damn cold. Maybe just a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt...


End file.
